I. Field
The present disclosure relates to a pressure/vacuum monitoring system. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an independently powered electronic pressure gauge used to monitor the pressure or vacuum in a gas-fluid system.
II. Background
Pressure regulators can be used to control the level of fluid-gas pressure within an output line attached to a pressure or vacuum source. The pressure regulator generally resides at a location where it can be accessed by an operator for the purposes of reading the level of pressure within the output line and controlling or changing the pressure if desired. The pressure being delivered into the output line can be greater than ambient pressure or it can be below the ambient pressure. In the latter case, where the pressure is below the ambient pressure, the output line generally provides a vacuum and the pressure regulator is a vacuum pressure regulator. Vacuum and above ambient pressure sources are found in various places including machine shops, manufacturing areas, automotive repair areas, hospitals, laboratories, and the like.
Hospital applications for vacuum and pressure sources can be found in the patient room, the operating theater, the catheterization lab, the recovery room, and the like. A vacuum outlet in a room is often found on the wall or in a ceiling drop. Unregulated hospital vacuum sources, which are connected to a centralized vacuum pump system, can range between about 0 and 760 millimeters of mercury (zero to minus 1 atmosphere). The centralized vacuum pumping system generally uses a vacuum pump and a storage tank for the low-pressure fluid, which is generally air. In order for the pressure or vacuum to be of maximum utility, the level of the vacuum or pressure is ideally controlled to within a predetermined range or to a pre-determined level. This control over the vacuum or pressure is accomplished with a pressure regulator.
The traditional vacuum regulator, as used in the hospital environment, calls upon a simple mechanical gauge to display negative pressure applied to the output line. As the practitioner adjusts the vacuum to be applied to the patient, the gauge measures and displays the resultant pressure. The vacuum is used to suction secretions, blood, etc, or to maintain negative pressure in a closed cavity as when inflating a collapsed lung. The mechanical gauge, circular in nature, similar to a clock face, has a dial hand that swings from zero to minus full scale pressure. For example, the gauge might read from 0 to 300-mmHg or 760-mmHg, although other gauge ranges are also available.
Pressure regulating means to display the regulated pressure has traditionally fallen upon mechanical gauges with tried and proven technology and here thereto have been reliant on power from the main. Therefore, there has been a long standing need for a pressure regulator system and method that utilizes a non-mechanical display and also provides power independence for an extended period of time.